Every Publisher Should Be Going All-In On The Nintendo Switch

Paul Tassi
,
ContributorNews and opinion about video games, technology and the internetFull BioOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch

Nintendo’s relationship with third party developers over the years
has been tenuous at best, non-existent at worst, but for the first time in a long while, the Switch seems like it’s in a position to change that.

The Wii was a problem. It sold extremely well, and for that reason alone, everyone developer wanted to get on board with ports for their various titles. But scaling back games for an underpowered system was tough, and so was trying to constantly integrate motion controls, the central gimmick of the console. The result was a lot of bad ports and even worse sales.

Next time around, the Wii U was avoided almost entirely by publishers. A few dipped their toe in at the start, but once it was clear that the system still had horsepower issues layered
on top
of poor sales, and everyone hopped out of the pool as soon as possible.

But enter the Switch.

The Switch is different, and seems like the first time Nintendo may be able to get a number of important players back on their team.

The sales
are already off-the-charts good. Yes, it was helped by launch year titles like
Breath of the Wild
and Super Mario Odyssey, but most importantly, the Switch is a fundamentally good system. The Wii was attractive to non-gamers and sold a lot of units because everyone and their grandma wanted to play Wii Sports. But outside of that, it was not a very good console, and its central gimmick, waggle-based motion controls, was not anything most people wanted to build a game around, even Nintendo, much of the time.

Nintendo

Nintendo Switch

The Switch is far, far better console. Its gimmick is not a gimmick, but a useful feature, portability. It still has motion controls that can be used when the situation calls for it, but the primary draw of the system is a home console that can be taken on the go, something we have not seen for ages in the industry, and something that is immediately appealing to a wide range of players from kids to older “core” gamers.

The result? A number of smaller, indie games are reporting that their
best
sales platform is the Switch, and so it stands to reason that everyone in that market could and should want to port their titles to the console for that reason. For AAA publishers it’s obviously a bit trickier, but we’re already seen some success in that realm as well.

The problem is that yes, the Switch is still more underpowered than its competition, PS4 and Xbox One, and
way
behind the new models, PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, but it also does not seem out of the question that big budget ports can work here in ways they haven’t on past Nintendo hardware. The best example of this is Bethesda’s DOOM, which obviously wasn’t quite as good-looking and smooth as it was on rival consoles, but it was…DOOM, on the go, and that more than enough reason for many to pick it up.

Ubisoft has been a longtime Nintendo ally and have already developed specific Switch games like
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, but ports of other titles like
AC: Origins
remain elusive. One of the biggest rumors of the past week is that this year’s Call of Duty
game, allegedly Black Ops 4, is in development for a simultaneous Switch release which will also employ HD rumble and motion controls, fulfilling Activision’s commitment to make more games for Nintendo platforms.

Activision

Black Ops

I’m not 100% sure I believe that rumor given the sourcing, but I will say that I
hope
it’s true. I do think it’s going to be worth it for developers to spend the time and money to port their games to the Switch. Unlike the Wii and Wii U, I don’t think this is going to work out poorly for them this time around, as the Switch is going to be a sales monster over its lifetime and
it happens to be a fundamentally great console because of its portability, something the Wii couldn’t boast about even though it was itself a smash hit.

The biggest concern I have isn’t the Switch’s hardware or player interest, it’s that many of these games rely heavily on an online component, and for all Nintendo’s recent successes, I’m still not convinced that their internet service is up to snuff. We will see the “full” release of Nintendo’s paid online service this fall, but it has been one area in which Nintendo has always lagged behind, and it seems hard for them to A) catch up immediately to the features and reliability of PSN and Xbox Live and B) to do that while maintaining the portable appeal of these games, as they will rely on Wi-fi to use online aspects on the go. So while a
Call of Duty
campaign might work just fine on Switch, playing multiplayer may be a more daunting prospect and deter players from making it their platform of choice.

Still, I think it’s wise for every major and minor publisher to start making the effort for the Switch. It’s had a stronger launch than any console in recent memory, and if it could snag quality third party support, it could be a better Nintendo product than anything before it. While everyone is rightly cautious after the Wii/Wii U era, I think it’s time to trust Nintendo again, try to work with them to make great games and ports for Switch players.